Meredith Continues Digital Drive With Acquisition of Grocery Server

Better Homes and Gardens publisher Meredith Corp. has acquired Grocery Server, a digital shopper marketing platform, in the company's latest attempt to build its digital capabilities. Meredith's AllRecipes.com has used Grocery Server's platform, which shows shoppers where they can buy recipe ingredients near them, since last year. It also serves native ads, deals and contextual product recommendations. Consumers searching AllRecipies.com for "sloppy joes," for example, might also see an ad for paper towels, Meredith said. "For us, we want to create an experience that's extremely powerful for our consumers and for our advertisers, and this is the type of native advertising that we feel is sort of the future that provides a lot of value to both, particularly within the path to purchase," said Stan Pavlovsky, president of AllRecipes and senior VP at Meredith Digital. Location-based services are increasingly important to AllRecipes.com, where half of all site visits come via mobile devices. Forty percent of users shop for ingredients within 24 hours of searching the site, Mr. Pavlovsky said. "We can create an experience that's extremely positive for users, but also has an extremely powerful way for brands to connect with consumers at their moment of intent," Mr. Pavlosky said. Meredith plans to use the Grocery Server platform on its food-focused brands beyond AllRecipes and eventually in other categories as well. The company's previous acquisitions in the past year include Mywedding.com, native ad company Selectable Media and the digital assets of Shape, Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health.

Meredith Continues Digital Drive With Acquisition of Grocery Server

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